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Little Athletics

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110-632: Little Athletics is an Australian activity program that involves modified athletics events for children aged 3 to 16 in the Australian Capital Territory , New South Wales , Queensland , South Australia , Western Australia and Northern Territory ); 3 to 15 in Victoria ; 3 to 14 in Tasmania . More than 100,000 young Australians competed in the sport in the 2013/14 season. The competitions were founded by Trevor Billingham ,

220-430: A pound before being phased out during the 1960s and 1970s. Currently the shilling is used as a currency in five east African countries: Kenya , Tanzania , Uganda , Somalia , and the de facto country of Somaliland . The East African Community additionally plans to introduce an East African shilling . The word shilling comes from Anglo-Saxon phrase "Scilling", a monetary term meaning literally "twentieth of

330-625: A coaching camp for secondary school students. His camp had a lot of primary school students in attendance. Billingham decided to set up a Saturday competition for younger children. The first competition was on 3 October 1964, in Geelong. Billingham had advertised the event in the Geelong Advertiser by saying: "Also starting this Saturday, will be the special morning meeting for boys and girls. These will commence at 10:30 a.m. each Saturday and will be open to any school age competitor. It

440-422: A competitive advantage or differing cultural perspectives over the eligibility of a category. Beyond the primary categories based on physical attributes, some competitions have further eligibility criteria based on nationality, community membership or occupation. The foremost division of this kind is by sex[ling]: in athletics, men and women almost exclusively compete against people of the same sex. In contrast to

550-536: A competitive age grouping is typically assessed through official documentation, such as birth records or passports. Instances of age cheating have occurred at all of the IAAF's global age category championships. One prominent incident was Olympic medalist Thomas Longosiwa , who provided a falsified passport to compete at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics at age 24. Age falsification for youth categories

660-451: A disability. Blind Ivy Granstrom set numerous Masters world records while being guided around the track. The disability categories have caused dispute among athletes, with some athletes being accused of exaggerating their level of disability in order to compete in less challenging categories. Athletes with intellectual disabilities were banned from competition in all Paralympic sports in response to verification issues and cheating at

770-424: A face value of five Maltese cents . In British Ceylon , a shilling ( Sinhala : Silima , Tamil : Silin ) was equivalent to eight fanams . With the replacement of the rixdollar by the rupee in 1852, a shilling was deemed to be equivalent to half a rupee. On the decimalisation of the currency in 1969, a shilling was deemed to be equivalent to 50 Ceylon cents. The term continued to be used colloquially until

880-489: A final points tally. The most prestigious track and field contests occur within athletics championships and athletics programmes at multi-sport events . The Olympic athletics competition and World Championships in Athletics , and the Paralympic athletics competition and World Para Athletics Championships , are the highest and most prestigious levels of competition in track and field. Track and field events have become

990-622: A formation of Little Athletics clubs. There was a meeting of interested parents, and Billingham told them that he thought an organisation should be set up based on his experience from the seniors competitions but he need some parents to help him. On 27 November 1965, six clubs were formed. They were run by parents with Billingham as an overall manager. By the end of the 1965/66 season, more than 200 boys and girls were competing regularly across nine clubs, and more than 500 had tried out at least once. The first Geelong championships were held in March 1966 over

1100-460: A level at which they can compete against able-bodied athletes. Legally blind Marla Runyan ran in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won a gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1999 Pan American Games . Oscar Pistorius , a double amputee, was a semi-finalist at the 2011 World Championships and won a silver medal as part of South Africa's 4 × 400 metres relay team . In masters athletics it is far more common to make an accommodation for athletes with

1210-516: A medium of exchange alongside the Somali shilling. Dollarization notwithstanding, the large issuance of the Somali shilling has increasingly fueled price hikes, especially for low value transactions. This inflationary environment, however, is expected to come to an end as soon as the Central Bank assumes full control of monetary policy and replaces the presently circulating currency introduced by

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1320-475: A number of clubs, with each club informing their own members of upcoming events. Training areas and facilities might be shared or separate. In October 1963, three young boys turned up at a senior athletics meet in Geelong, Victoria . They approached official Trevor Billingham , but Billingham turned them away citing their youth as a reason for them not to be allowed to compete. A few months later, Billingham held

1430-574: A pound", from the Proto-Germanic root skiljaną meaning literally "to separate, split, divide", from (s)kelH- meaning "to cut, split." The word "Scilling" is mentioned in the earliest recorded Germanic law codes, those of Æthelberht of Kent . The Germanic root of the term Shilling, (s)kelH- , has been theorized to come from a foreign currency; most probably the Phoenician Shekel . Recent discoveries of antique British tin off

1540-600: A professional track and field circuit in the United States in the 1970s. Athletes used their increasing status to push for remuneration and the IAAF responded with the IAAF Golden Events series and the establishment an outdoor World Championships in 1983, including track and field, racewalking and a marathon event. In modern times, athletes can receive money for racing, putting an end to the so-called " amateurism " that existed before. The global body updated

1650-527: A shilling coin in Australia was "deener". The slang term for a shilling as currency unit was "bob", the same as in the United Kingdom . After 1966, shillings continued to circulate, as they were replaced by ten-cent coins of the same size and weight. New Zealand shillings, twenty of which made up one New Zealand pound , were first issued in 1933 and featured the image of a Maori warrior carrying

1760-450: A similar meaning. In many parts of North America, athletics is commonly understood as encompassing sports in general, aligning with its historical usage. The term "athletics" is seldom used specifically to denote the sport of athletics in this region. Instead, "track and field" is the preferred term used in the United States and Canada to describe athletics events, which include race-walking and marathon running (although cross-country running

1870-422: A sports festival which emerged in 17th century England , featured athletics in the form of sledgehammer throwing contests. Annually, from 1796 to 1798, L'Olympiade de la République was held in revolutionary France , and is an early forerunner to the modern Olympic Games. The premier event of this competition was a running event, but various ancient Greek disciplines were also on display. The 1796 Olympiade marked

1980-500: A taiaha "in a warlike attitude" on the reverse. In 1967, New Zealand's currency was decimalised and the shilling was replaced by a ten-cent coin of the same size and weight. Ten-cent coins minted through the remainder of the 1960s included the legend "ONE SHILLING" on the reverse. Smaller ten-cent coins were introduced in 2006. The shilling ( Maltese : xelin , pl. xelini ) was used in Malta , prior to decimalisation in 1972, and had

2090-490: A team score, such as cross country. Organized athletics are traced back to the ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC. The rules and format of the modern events in athletics were defined in Western Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th century, and were then spread to other parts of the world. Most modern top level meetings are held under the auspices of World Athletics , the global governing body for

2200-454: A winner. The sport became professionalised as footmen were hired specifically on their athletic ability and began to devote their lives to training for the gambling events. The amateur sports movement in the late 19th century marginalised competitions based on the professional, gambling model. The 1896 Summer Olympics saw the birth of the modern marathon and the event led to the growth of road running competitions through annual events such as

2310-742: A young Australian athletics enthusiast from Geelong , Victoria, in 1964. By 1967, there were more than 35 Little Athletics clubs in Victoria, and the decision was made to start the Victorian Little Athletics Association (VLAA). Soon after the formation of the VLAA, other states expressed interest in Little Athletics. In February 1968, a year after the formation of the VLAA, Western Australia held its first Little Athletics meet at Perry Lakes Stadium . In 1972,

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2420-426: Is a form of competitive walking that usually takes place on open-air roads, although running tracks are also occasionally used. Racewalking is the only sport in athletics in which judges monitor athletes on their technique. Racewalkers must always have a foot in contact with the ground and their advancing leg must be straightened, not bent at the knee – failure to follow these rules results in disqualification from

2530-399: Is defined by the venue in which the competitions are held – the athletics stadium . A variety of running events are held on the track which fall into three broad distance categories: sprints , middle-distance , and long-distance track events . Relay races feature teams comprising four runners each, who must pass a baton to their teammate after a specified distance with the aim of being

2640-432: Is designed similarly to an outdoor track, but is only 200 metres in length and has between four and eight lanes, each with width between 0.90 m and 1.10 m. Often, the bends of an indoor track will be banked to compensate for the small turning radius. However, because of space limitations, indoor tracks may have other nonstandard lengths, such as 160-yard (146.3 m) indoor track at Madison Square Garden used for

2750-501: Is intended that boys and girls not old enough to compete in the afternoon will take part in these special meetings. Anyone interested in the sport may attend, including parents, while the one-hour of athletics is conducted. All of the standard athletic events will be conducted and boys and girls will be graded in each event." After the event, he wrote a one-page article titled "Junior Athletics in Wet Conditions", which appeared in

2860-653: Is mostly limited to less developed parts of the world, such as Africa and South Asia, which have less stringent controls on official documentation and many mature athletes engaging in high school competition due to disruptions to education. The same regions of the world also present issues with age verification in masters age categories, with examples such as Indian distance runners Dharampal Singh Gudha and Fauja Singh (both claiming to be over 100 years old) reaching mainstream attention. Athletes with physical disabilities have competed at separate international events since 1952. The International Paralympic Committee governs

2970-727: Is typically categorized as a distinct sport). Athletic contests in running, walking, jumping and throwing are among the oldest of all sports and their roots are prehistoric . Athletics events were depicted in the Ancient Egyptian tombs in Saqqara , with illustrations of running at the Heb Sed festival and high jumping appearing in tombs from as early as of 2250 BC. The Tailteann Games were an ancient Celtic festival in Ireland , founded c.  1800 BC , and

3080-402: The 1912 Summer Olympics . One variation on traditional cross country is mountain running , which incorporates significant uphill and downhill sections as an additional challenge to the course. Fell running and Orienteering are other competitive sports similar to cross country, although they feature an element of navigation which is absent from the set courses of cross country. Racewalking

3190-647: The Articles of Union between England and Scotland, continued in use until decimalisation in 1971. During the Great Recoinage of 1816 (following the Acts of Union 1800 that united the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland), the mint was instructed to coin one troy pound (weighing 5760 grains or 373 g) of sterling silver (0.925 fine) into 66 shillings, or its equivalent in other denominations. This set

3300-725: The Banca Nazionale Somala issued notes for 5, 10, 20 and 100 scellini/shillings. In 1975, the Bankiga Qaranka Soomaaliyeed (Somali National Bank) introduced notes for 5, 10, 20 and 100 shilin/shillings. These were followed in 1978 by notes of the same denominations issued by the Bankiga Dhexe Ee Soomaaliya ( Central Bank of Somalia ). 50 shilin/shillings notes were introduced in 1983, followed by 500 shilin/shillings in 1989 and 1000 shilin/shillings in 1990. Also in 1990 there

3410-846: The British Somaliland and the Somali somalo in the Trust Territory of Somalia were replaced by the Somali shilling . In 1966, the East African Monetary Union broke up, and the member countries replaced their currencies with the Kenyan shilling , the Ugandan shilling and the Tanzanian shilling , respectively. Though all these currencies have different values at present, there were plans to reintroduce

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3520-467: The East African shilling as a new common currency by 2009, although this has not come about. In the thirteen British colonies that became the United States in 1776, British money was often in circulation. Each colony issued its own paper money , with pounds, shillings, and pence used as the standard units of account . Some coins were minted in the colonies, such as the pine tree shilling in

3630-623: The Geelong Advertiser on 5 October 1964. He wrote that more than 80 boys and girls attended. He also wrote that there was a considerable need for such junior athletic competitions at the time, that the event was a success, and more events of the same type were to be held in the future. By 1965, Billingham had still not convinced the Geelong branch of the Victorian Amateur Athletics Association (VAAA). In January 1965, Billingham acquired lights for

3740-574: The Great North Run , attract similar attention. An international governing body, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), was founded in 1912. It enforced amateur sport status on competitions during much of the 20th century. Professional competition continued at a low level, becoming increasingly more common as the century progressed. The International Track Association briefly formed

3850-642: The Horatio Alger Jr. story Ragged Dick (1868). Prices in an 1859 advertisement in a Chicago newspaper were given in dollars and shillings. In Canada , £sd currencies were in use both during the French period ( New France livre ) and after the British conquest ( Canadian pound ). Between the 1760s and 1840s in Lower Canada , both French and British-based pounds coexisted as units of account,

3960-503: The IAAF World Race Walking Cup  – which has been held since 1961. The IAAF World Race Walking Challenge forms the primary seasonal competition – athletes earn points for their performances at ten selected racewalking competitions and the highest scoring walkers are entered into that year's IAAF Race Walking Challenge Final . The significant variation in people's abilities in the sport of athletics has led to

4070-520: The Massachusetts Bay Colony . After the United States adopted the dollar as its unit of currency and accepted the gold standard , one British shilling was worth 24 US cents . Due to ongoing shortages of US coins in some regions, shillings continued to circulate well into the nineteenth century. Shillings are described as the standard monetary unit throughout the autobiography of Solomon Northup (1853) and mentioned several times in

4180-511: The Millrose Games . Because of space limitations, meetings held at indoor facilities do not hold many of athletics events typically contested outdoors. Shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom , Australia , New Zealand , other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland , where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or one-twentieth of

4290-523: The Somaliland territory, subsequently emerged. Somalia's newly established Transitional Federal Government revived the defunct Central Bank of Somalia in the late 2000s. In terms of financial management, the monetary authority is in the process of assuming the task of both formulating and implementing monetary policy. Owing to a lack of confidence in the Somali shilling, the US dollar is widely accepted as

4400-721: The Summer Paralympics . The World Marathon Majors series includes the six most prestigious marathon competitions at the elite level – the Berlin , Boston , Chicago , London , New York City and Tokyo Marathons . The sport of road running finds its roots in the activities of footmen : male servants who ran alongside the carriages of aristocrats around the 18th century, and who also ran errands over distances for their masters. Foot racing competitions evolved from wagers between aristocrats, who pitted their footman against that of another aristocrat in order to determine

4510-739: The Towerrunning World Association ). Snowshoe running is a winter sport governed by the World Snowshoe Federation , which is similarly to cross country running but has athletes wearing snowshoes to race over deep snow on an obstacle-free course. The International Association of Ultrarunners organises ultra running as an affiliate of World Athletics, but these long-distance forms of competition fit within World Athletics disciplines, albeit with additional distance. Athletics, specifically

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4620-794: The USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships – first held in 1876 by the New York Athletic Club . Athletics became codified and standardized via the English AAA and other general sports organisations in the late 19th century, such as the Amateur Athletic Union (founded in the US in 1888) and the Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques (founded in France in 1889). An athletics competition

4730-932: The World Athletics Road Running Championships . Athletes with a physical disability compete at the Summer Paralympics and the World Para Athletics Championships . The most prestigious glabal season-long leagues in the sport are the Diamond League for track and field athletes, and the World Marathon Majors in marathon runnning. The word athletics is derived from the Ancient Greek ἀθλητής ( athlētēs , "combatant in public games") from ἆθλον ( athlon , "prize") or ἆθλος ( athlos , "competition"). Initially,

4840-425: The long jump and triple jump are contests measuring the horizontal distance an athlete can jump, while the high jump and pole vault are decided on the height achieved. Combined events , which include the decathlon (typically competed by men) and heptathlon (typically competed by women), are competitions where athletes compete in a number of different track and field events, with each performance going toward

4950-527: The 17th century, further devaluation resulted in schillings in the Holy Roman Empire being minted in billon (majority base metal content) instead of silver , with 48 schillings to one Reichsthaler . The English (later British) shilling continued to be minted as a silver coin until 1946, although the silver content was debased from 1920 onwards. A shilling was a coin used in England from

5060-530: The 1860s, including a meet at Ashburnham Hall in London which featured four running events and a triple jump competition. The Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) was established in England in 1880 as the first national body for the sport of athletics and began holding its own annual athletics competition – the AAA Championships . The United States also began holding an annual national competition –

5170-410: The 2000 Summer Paralympics and the intellectual disability athletics programme was only restored twelve years later at the 2012 Summer Paralympics . Professional athletics almost exclusively takes place in one of three types of venue: stadiums , set courses on grass or woodland, and road-based courses. Such venues ensure that events take place in a relatively standardised manner, as well as improving

5280-587: The Australian airline becoming the first naming partner of LAA. In September 2017, Coles signed with Little Athletics Australia, becoming its major partner. Athletics (sport) Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running , jumping and throwing . The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field , road running , cross-country running , and racewalking . The results of racing events are decided by finishing position (or time, where measured), while

5390-674: The Boston Marathon (first held in 1897) and the Lake Biwa Marathon and Fukuoka Marathons , which were established in the 1940s. The 1970s running boom in the United States made road running a common pastime and also increased its popularity at the elite level. Ekiden contests – which originated in Japan and remain very popular there – are a relay race variation on the marathon, being in contrast to

5500-555: The French livre being close in value to the British shilling. A variety of coinage circulated. By 1858, a decimal Canadian dollar came into use. Other parts of British North America decimalized shortly afterwards and Canadian confederation in 1867 passed control of currency to the federal government. The Somali shilling is the official currency of Somalia . It is subdivided into 100 cents (English), senti (Somali, also سنت) or centesimi (Italian). The Somali shilling has been

5610-538: The Geelong Centre of the VAAA at Landy Field. Despite his success with Clarke, Billingham still could not get support for Little Athletics from VAAA; instead, they suggested he drop the junior competition and focus on the rapidly expanding senior one. One of the delegates, Jack Frewin, encouraged him to push through with his idea, so he published a notice in the Geelong Advertiser announcing that he needed to start

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5720-551: The Geelong senior athletics oval, Landy Field , which was also where the Little Athletics competition were. The lights were originally erected at Kardinia Park for the 1956 Olympics ; Billingham asked the Geelong Football Club if he could use the lights, and they allowed him. Billingham invited Ron Clarke to the now-lighted Landy Field to break the 20,000 meters and one-hour run world records, and Clarke accepted. In January 1965, Billingham also thought up

5830-523: The Olympics, even among casual sports fans, but otherwise is less popular though it maintains a dedicate fan base. Big city marathons such as New York , Boston , Chicago , London and Tokyo are major televised events in their respective cities, and often attract thousands of entrants and tens of thousands of spectators, for whom the event is usually free as it takes place on normal city roads. A small number of half marathons and road mile races, including

5940-503: The United States). Historically, tracks were covered by a dirt running surface. Modern All-weather running tracks are covered by a synthetic weather-resistant running surface, which typically consists of rubber (either black SBR or colored EPDM granules), bound by polyurethane or latex resins. Older tracks may be cinder -covered. The facilities can be called track and field stadiums or athletics stadiums. A standard indoor track

6050-525: The age of 30 onwards. As a result, numerous age categories have been created to encourage younger and older athletes to engage in competition. At international level, there are three major categories for young athletes: under-23 , under-20 (formerly junior), and under-18 (formerly youth). Beyond international rules, different youth categories are in use in the sport, often in the form of two-year or single age groupings. Age categories are more extensive for older athletes and these are commonly organised under

6160-600: The authorities in Somaliland have attempted to bar usage of the Somali shilling, Somalia's official currency is still in circulation in some regions. Elsewhere in the former British Empire, forms of the word shilling remain in informal use. In Vanuatu and Solomon Islands , selen is used in Bislama and Pijin to mean "money"; in Malaysia , syiling (pronounced like shilling ) means "coin". In Egypt and Jordan

6270-516: The coasts of Israel and Turkey has confirmed probable trade between the middle-east and the British isles. In origin, the word schilling designated the solidus of Late Antiquity, the gold coin that replaced the aureus in the 4th century. The Anglo-Saxon scillingas of the 7th century were still small gold coins. In 796, Charlemagne passed a monetary reform, based on the Carolingian silver pound (about 406.5 grams). The schilling

6380-581: The competitions in athletics, and hosts the Paralympic Games , which have continued since 1960 . Competitors at elite level competitions, are classified by disability, to arrange athletes with a similar disability in the same event. A classified T12 athlete for example, is a track athlete with a visual impairment. Operating independently of the Paralympic movement, deaf athletes have a long-established tradition of organised athletics, with

6490-447: The creation of numerous competitive categories, in order that athletes are pitted against rivals of a similar kind or ability, and to include groups of people who would otherwise not be competitive in open-to-all events. The eligibility of athletes for a given category is occasionally a source of controversy among the sport's participants, officials and spectators, with disputes typically being rooted in deliberate cheating in order to gain

6600-575: The currency of parts of Somalia since 1921, when the East African shilling was introduced to the former British Somaliland protectorate . Following independence in 1960, the somalo of Italian Somaliland and the East African shilling (which were equal in value) were replaced at par in 1962 by the Somali shilling. Names used for the denominations were cent, centesimo (plural: centesimi) and سنت (plurals: سنتيمات and سنتيما) together with shilling, scellino (plural: scellini) and شلن. That same year,

6710-406: The difficulty of determining the exact performance advantage provided by a given condition, and the moral risk of "gender-engineering" by setting a biological definition for a female athlete. Age is a significant determiner of ability to compete in athletics, with athletic ability generally increasing through childhood and adolescence, peaking in early adulthood, then gradually declining from around

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6820-844: The distance running discipline, also forms a significant portion of a number of other organised sports, most notable the triathlon family of sports and modern pentathlon . In both cases, the rules of the sport broadly mirror those of World Athletics, but the details are set by the international federation of the sports themselves. Track and field competitions emerged in the late 19th century and were typically contested between athletes who were representing rival educational institutions , military organisations and sports clubs . Participating athletes may compete in one or more events, according to their specialities. Men and women compete separately. Track and field comes in both indoor and outdoor formats, with most indoor competitions occurring in winter , while outdoor events are mostly held in summer . The sport

6930-588: The division to raise questions of fairness in competition. The dispute reached new heights in 2019 with the United Nations Human Rights Council issuing a statement that the IAAF was breaching "international human rights norms and standards" through its practice of allowing some athletes to compete in the women's division only once they had lowered their testosterone levels through medical intervention. The IAAF and several prominent women athletes, such as Paula Radcliffe , said this

7040-417: The elite racers consistently beat the runners on foot. The speed of wheel chair racers has caused difficulties for race organisers in properly staggering their start times compared to runners. A collision between Josh Cassidy (a wheelchair racer) and Tiki Gelana (a leading female marathoner) at the 2013 London Marathon brought the issue into the spotlight again. Occasionally, athletes with a disability reach

7150-414: The face. The coat of arms design was retained through the reign of King George V until a new ram's head design was introduced for the coins of King George VI . This design continued until the last year of issue in 1963. In 1966, Australia's currency was decimalised and the shilling was replaced by a ten cent coin (Australian) , where 10 shillings made up one Australian dollar . The slang term for

7260-511: The first athlete to publicly fail the test in 1967 and the humiliation she suffered as a result of the announcement led to sex tests becoming a confidential process. Hurdler Maria José Martínez-Patiño failed a test and was disqualified in 1985, but publicly fought the ban in court and was reinstated in 1988. In 1991, the IAAF replaced the sex chromatin test with general medical tests for athletes of all divisions, due to changes in ethical and scientific viewpoints. The question of eligibility for

7370-580: The first international Stoke Mandeville Games were organized for World War II veterans. This only included athletes in a wheelchair . This inspired the first Paralympic Games , held in 1960. Competitions would over time be expanded to include mainly athletes with amputation , cerebral palsy and visual impairment , in addition to wheelchair events. World Athletics, the sport's governing body, defines athletics in six disciplines: track and field , road running , race walking , cross country running , mountain running , and trail running . Mountain running

7480-543: The first major world competition being included at the 1924 Deaflympics . The primary impediments to the inclusion of deaf athletes in mainstream athletics are sound based elements of the sport, such as the starter's pistol . This can be a disadvantage even in Paralympic sport, as shown in by the example of Olivia Breen who failed to hear a false start in a cerebral palsy class race at the 2012 Paralympics. In wheelchair racing athletes compete in lightweight racing chairs. Most major marathons have wheelchair divisions and

7590-451: The first team to finish. Hurdling events and the steeplechase are a variation upon the flat running theme in that athletes must clear obstacles on the track during the race. The field events come in two types – jumping and throwing competitions. In throwing events, athletes are measured by how far they hurl an implement, with the common events being the shot put , discus , javelin , and hammer throw . There are four common jumping events:

7700-467: The founding members. Tasmania, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland joined shortly afterwards. In the 2013/14 season, Little Athletics had more than 100,000 athletes and approximately 500 centres. Every year, there is a national championship for athletes under 13 years old, in which each state has a team of its best athletes. In July 2014, Jetstar announced a two-year sponsorship deal with Little Athletics Australia (LAA), which saw

7810-556: The governance of World Athletics. The International Skyrunning Federation (ISF) governs high-altitude mountain running, defined as skyrunning , and is affiliated with the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation rather than World Athletics. Competitive stair climbing events, usually hosted in skyscrapers , has two common names: vertical running (as described by the ISF) and tower running (as described by

7920-487: The grassroots of track and field. Road running competitions are running events (predominantly long distance) which are mainly conducted on courses of paved or tarmac roads , although major events often finish on the track of a main stadium . In addition to being a common recreational sport , the elite level of the sport – particularly marathon races  – are one of the most popular aspects of athletics. Road racing events can be of virtually any distance, but

8030-913: The introduction of the metric system into the sport. Athletics competitions were held about 1812 at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , and in 1840 in Shrewsbury , Shropshire at the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt. The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich held an organised competition in 1849, and a regular series of closed meetings open only to undergraduates, was held by Exeter College, Oxford , from 1850. The annual Wenlock Olympian Games , first held in 1850 in Wenlock , England, incorporated athletics events into its sports programme. The first modern-style indoor athletics meetings were recorded shortly after in

8140-410: The jumps and throws are won by the athlete that achieves the highest or furthest measurement from a series of attempts. The simplicity of the competitions, and the lack of a need for expensive equipment, makes athletics one of the most common types of sports in the world. Athletics is mostly an individual sport, with the exception of relay races and competitions which combine athletes' performances for

8250-482: The late 20th century. The East African shilling was in use in the British colonies and protectorates of British Somaliland , Kenya , Tanganyika , Uganda and Zanzibar from 1920, when it replaced the rupee , until after those countries became independent, and in Tanzania after that country was formed by the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. Upon independence in 1960, the East African shilling in

8360-495: The long weekend. There was another meeting in March 1966. John McGlynn, an executive from the Ford Motor Company , suggested that there was a need to encourage other clubs from areas outside Geelong to start up. By September 1966, there were clubs in Geelong, Belmont, Newtown, Lara, Corio YMCA and St Thomas. They were all based around local high schools. In May 1967, the Victorian Little Athletics Association (VLAA)

8470-514: The men's division, the development of the women's division has caused regular dispute in terms of eligibility. Several intersex athletes had success in the women's division in the early 20th century, such as Stanisława Walasiewicz and Mary Weston (later Mark), and the IAAF responded by introducing sex verification for all athletes in the women's category, beginning with the disqualification of sprinter Foekje Dillema in 1950 after she refused to be tested. Olympic champion Ewa Kłobukowska became

8580-545: The most common and well known are the marathon , half marathon , 10 km and 5 km . The marathon is the only road running event featured at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics and the Summer Olympics , although there is also an annual IAAF World Half Marathon Championships . The marathon is also the only road running event featured at the World Para Athletics Championships and

8690-544: The most prominent part of major athletics championships and many famous athletes within the sport of athletics come from this discipline. Discrete track and field competitions are found at national championships -level and also at annual, invitational track and field meets . Meetings range from elite competitions – such as those in the IAAF Diamond League series – to basic all comers track meets , inter-sports club meetings and schools events, which form

8800-484: The name "Little Athletics"; previously, the events had been called "Junior Athletics". He took his two proposals to the VAAA, and both were accepted. On 9 October 1965, the 1965/66 Geelong Little Athletics season started. Fourteen meets were held, with a fee of three shillings for the season. Billingham was the sole preparer for the Ron Clarke visit. When Clarke came, he broke both world records and brought fame to

8910-507: The name to the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2001, moving away from its amateur origins, before taking on its current name World Athletics in 2019. The Comité International Sports des Sourds had been formed by 1922, to govern international deaf sports, including athletics. The first organized international competitions for athletes with a physical disability (not deaf) began in 1952, when

9020-428: The old shilling coins include "bob" and "hog". While the derivation of "bob" is uncertain, John Camden Hotten in his 1864 Slang Dictionary says the original version was "bobstick" and speculates that it may be connected with Sir Robert Walpole . Australian shillings, twenty of which made up one Australian pound , were first issued in 1910, with the Australian coat of arms on the reverse and King Edward VII on

9130-455: The private sector. The Somaliland shilling is the official currency of Somaliland , a self-declared republic that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia . The currency is not recognised as legal tender by the international community, and it currently has no official exchange rate . It is regulated by the Bank of Somaliland , Somaliland's central bank . Although

9240-473: The race. Racewalking finds its roots in the sport of pedestrianism which emerged in the late 18th century in England. Spectators would gamble on the outcome of the walking competitions. The sport took on an endurance aspect and competitions were held over long distances or walkers would have to achieve a certain distance within a specified time frame, such as Centurion contests of walking 100 miles (160 km) within 24 hours. During this period, racewalking

9350-418: The range of events available. Under the independent governing body, Little Athletics Australia (LAA), each state and territory has its own association which is responsible for running Little Athletics in that state. Each state body controls the relevant centres and events in their state or territory. Clubs are the base level of the Little Athletics structure. Centres might house just one Little Athletics club or

9460-581: The reign of Henry VII (or Edward VI around 1550). The shilling continued in use after the Acts of Union of 1707 created a new United Kingdom from the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, and under Article 16 of the Articles of Union, a common currency for the new United Kingdom was created. The term shilling ( Scots : schilling ) was in use in Scotland from early medieval times. The common currency for Great Britain , created in 1707 by Article 16 of

9570-554: The safety of athletes and enjoyment for spectators. At a more basic level, many forms of athletics demand very little in terms of venue requirements; almost any open space or area of field can provide a suitable venue for basic running, jumping and throwing competitions. A standard outdoor track is in the shape of a stadium , 400 metres in length, and has at least eight lanes 1.22 m in width (small arenas might have six lanes). Older track facilities may have nonstandard track lengths, such as 440 yards (402.3 m; 1/4 mile) (common in

9680-472: The same value to the British coin, which continued to be used in Northern Ireland . The coin featured a bull on the reverse side. The first minting, from 1928 until 1941, contained 75% silver, more than the equivalent British coin. The pre-decimal Irish shilling coin (which was retained for some time after decimalisation) was withdrawn from circulation on 1 January 1993, when a smaller five-pence coin

9790-572: The scholastic level, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States. At the professional level, the foremost competitions come under the banner of the IAAF Cross Country Permit Meetings . While cross country competitions are no longer held at the Olympics, having featured in the athletics programme from 1912 to 1924, it has been present as one of the events within the modern pentathlon competition since

9900-494: The silver denarii . In the late medieval period, states of the Holy Roman Empire began minting similar silver coins of multiple pfennig weight, some of them denominated as schilling . In the 16th century, numerous different types of schilling were minted in Europe . The English shilling was a successor of the testoon coin first minted during the reign of Edward VI in 1551, which consisted of 92.5% "sterling" silver. By

10010-661: The sport of athletics, or its member continental and national federations. The athletics meeting forms the backbone of the Summer Olympics and most other major multi-sport events . The foremost international athletics meeting is the World Athletics Championships , which incorporates track and field, marathon running and race walking. Other top level competitions in athletics include the World Athletics Indoor Championships , World Athletics Cross Country Championships and

10120-508: The states of Victoria, New South Wales, Northern Territory and Western Australia became the founding members of The Australian Little Athletics Union (ALAU), which was formed in Perth . By 1974, Tasmania , Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Queensland had all joined the ALAU. Available Little Athletics events vary between age groups and from state to state. The following represents

10230-558: The term described athletic contests in general – i.e. sporting competition based primarily on human physical feats. In the 19th century, the term athletics acquired a more narrow definition in Europe and came to describe sports involving competitive running, walking, jumping and throwing. This definition continues to be prominent in the United Kingdom and the former British Empire . Related words in Germanic and Romance languages also have

10340-460: The thirty-day meeting included running and stone-throwing among its sporting events. The original and only event at the first Olympics in 776 BC was a stadium-length running event known as the stadion . This later expanded to include throwing and jumping events within the ancient pentathlon . Athletics competitions also took place at other Panhellenic Games , which were founded later around 500 BC. The Cotswold Olympic Games ,

10450-691: The typically individual sport of road running. Cross country running is the most naturalistic of the sports in athletics as competitions take place on open-air courses over surfaces such as grass , woodland trails, and earth . It is both an individual and team sport , as runners are judged on an individual basis and a points scoring method is used for teams. Competitions are typically long distance races of 3 km (1.9 mi) or more which are usually held in autumn and winter. Cross country's most successful athletes often compete in long-distance track and road events as well. The Crick Run in England in 1838

10560-502: The umbrella of masters athletics , which has age groups spanning five years for all athletes aged 35 and above. There is no limit to the number of age groupings, hence Stanisław Kowalski holds a world record for men aged 105 years and over. For competitions where age is not taken into account, this is known as senior or open class athletics; in international rules there remain some restrictions on younger people competing in endurance events for health reasons . Athletes' eligibility for

10670-517: The unification of the currencies in 1825, the Irish shilling was valued at 13 pence and known as the "black hog", as opposed to the 12-pence English shillings which were known as "white hogs". In the Irish Free State and Republic of Ireland , the shilling coin was issued as scilling (the Irish language equivalent). It was worth 1/20 of an Irish pound , and was interchangeable at

10780-540: The weight of the shilling at 87.2727 grains or 5.655 grams from 1816 until 1990, when it was demonetised in favour of a new smaller 5p coin of the same value. At decimalisation in 1971, the shilling coin was superseded by the new five-pence piece , which initially was of identical size and weight and had the same value. Shillings remained in circulation until the five pence coin was reduced in size in 1991. Three coins denominated in multiple shillings were also in circulation at this time. They were: Between 1701 and

10890-467: The women's division continued to be a contentious and public issue into the 21st century, with Caster Semenya and Dutee Chand bearing periods of ineligibility and taking the IAAF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over their bans under the hyperandrogenism rules. An increasing number of trans men and trans women began to compete in the women's division in the 2010s, which caused other athletes in

11000-553: The women's event was first held in 1992. The most common events in modern competition are over 10 km, 20 km and 50 km on roads, although women's 3 km and men's 5 km are held on indoor tracks. The highest level racewalking competitions occur at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics and at the Summer Olympics, although the sport also has its own separate major competition –

11110-464: Was added in 2003 and trail running was added in 2015. All forms of athletics are individual sports with the exception of relay races . However, athletes' performances are often tallied together by country at international championships, and, in the case of cross country and road races, finishing positions or times of the top athletes from a team may be combined to declare a team victor. Several further forms of competitive running exist outside of

11220-463: Was an attempt to reform the currency at 100 to 1, with new banknotes of 20 and 50 new shilin prepared for the redenomination. Following the breakdown in central authority that accompanied the civil war , which began in the early 1990s, the value of the Somali shilling was disrupted. The Central Bank of Somalia, the nation's monetary authority, also shut down operations. Rival producers of the local currency, including autonomous regional entities such as

11330-666: Was formed. By 1969, there were 39 clubs in the VLAA. The first Western Australian meet was in February 1968 at Perry Lakes Stadium . In March 1968, a Western Australian association was formed. Competitions in New South Wales started in October 1968. In 1972, the Australian Little Athletics Union (ALAU) was formed in Perth . Victoria, New South Wales, Northern Territory and Western Australia were

11440-531: Was frequently held on athletics tracks for ease of measurement, and the 1908 Summer Olympics in London saw the introduction of the 3500-metre and 10-mile walks. Racewalking was briefly dropped from the Olympic programme in 1928 , but the men's 50 kilometres race walk has been held at every Olympic Games but one since 1932. The men's 20 kilometres race walk was added to the Olympic athletics schedule in 1956 and

11550-425: Was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and it has been as one of the foremost competitions at the quadrennial multi-sport event ever since. Originally for men only, the 1928 Olympics saw the introduction of women's events in the athletics programme. Athletics is part of the Paralympic Games since the inaugural Games in 1960 . Athletics has a very high-profile during major championships, especially

11660-403: Was introduced. One abbreviation for shilling is s (for solidus , see £sd ). Often it was expressed by a solidus symbol ( / ) (which may have begun as a substitute for ſ (' long s ') ) thus '1/9' means "one shilling and ninepence". A price expressed as a number of shillings with no additional pence was often written as the number, a solidus and a dash: thus for example ten shillings

11770-474: Was one-twentieth of a pound or about 20.3 grams of silver. One schilling had 12 denarii or deniers ("pennies"). There were, however, no silver schilling coins in the Carolingian period, and gold schillings (equivalent to twelve silver pfennigs ) were very rare. In the 12th century, larger silver coins of multiple pfennig weight were minted, known as denarii grossi or groschen ( groats ). These heavier coins were valued at between 4 and 20 of

11880-409: Was required in order to prevent a situation where countries deliberately sought out athletes who were intersex, transgender or had a difference in sex development in order to succeed in women's sport. Others have argued for the abolition of gender verification testing, with academic Maren Behrensen citing the harm to tested athletes' social and emotional well-being, the inaccuracy of the medical tests,

11990-633: Was the first recorded instance of an organised cross country competition. The sport gained popularity in British, then American schools in the 19th century and culminated in the creation of the first International Cross Country Championships in 1903. The annual IAAF World Cross Country Championships was inaugurated in 1973 and this remains the highest level of competition for the sport. A number of continental cross country competitions are held, with championships taking place in Asia , Europe , North America and South America . The sport has retained its status at

12100-400: Was written '10/-'. Two shillings and sixpence (half a crown, or an eighth of a £) was written as '2/6', rarely as '2s   6d' ('d' being the abbreviation for denarius , a penny). The shilling itself was equal to twelve pence. In the traditional pounds, shillings and pence system, there were 20 shillings per pound and 12 pence per shilling, making 240 pence in a pound. Slang terms for

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